Actor Luc Perry, best known for his famous role as Dylan in Beverly Hills, died of a stroke at the age of 52. This drama underlines the importance of explaining what a stroke is and remembering the signs that should alert you.
Luc Perry, the actor who played Dylan in the series Beverly Hills and Fred Andrews in Riverdale, died of a stroke at the age of 52, we learned on Monday March 4. How to explain that the actor had a stroke and succumbed so young? According to GalaLuc Perry smoked from an early age, previously had “problems with his arteries bites” and had “close to colon cancer following a medical examination in 2015 which revealed precancerous lesions in his body”.
Those close to the actor therefore knew what Luc Perry risked after this stroke. The actor was plunged into an artificial coma as soon as he arrived at Providence Saint Joseph Hospital in Burbank (Los Angeles) in the greatest secrecy and never woke up. A drama that reminds us how important a healthy lifestyle is and that it is vital to know the signs of a stroke in order to react quickly.
What is a stroke?
A cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is caused either by a sudden stoppage of blood circulation inside an artery of the brain, or by the rupture of an artery with bleeding in the skull or the brain. The stoppage of blood circulation no longer allows an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients to the nerve cells in the affected area of the brain, leading to their death. The rupture of a cerebral artery leads to bleeding inside the skull, or even the brain, which causes the formation of a hematoma which can become compressive.
The severity of the stroke depends on the location and extent of the brain areas affected. Indeed, each area of the brain is specialized (motricity or sensitivity of the hand, arm, leg, speech, vision, etc.). A localized accident will therefore eliminate a function in part or in whole. An extended accident will be responsible for paralysis of the whole half of the body or death.
There are two types of stroke
There are two types of cerebrovascular accidents: cerebral infarctions and cerebral or meningeal hemorrhages.
Cerebral infarctions represent 80% of strokes and are mainly the consequence of the obstruction of a cerebral artery by a blood clot which comes to block in the artery when its caliber exceeds the size of this one. The main cause of cerebral infarctions is atherosclerosis which occurs due to the formation of an atheroma plaque in an artery of the neck or the brain, and which will ulcerate at some point, which will lead to the formation of a clot. It is the migration of this clot or of a piece of plaque that will block a cerebral artery. Certain heart diseases, such as heart rhythm disorders (“atrial fibrillation”) can promote the formation of a clot in the heart: this can then be drawn into the bloodstream and become blocked in a cerebral artery.
Cerebral or meningeal hemorrhages (respectively 15% and 5% of strokes) are related to the rupture of an artery in the brain. This rupture most often concerns a small caliber artery, weakened by arterial hypertension in the elderly. Rupture of a pre-existing cerebral vascular malformation (aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation) or a bleeding disorder (often related to taking anticoagulant drugs) can also be the cause of a cerebral hemorrhage, often in people younger.
What signs should alert?
Any stroke is a medical emergency and it is very important to know the signs in order to contact the emergency services as soon as possible. Some very common symptoms should alert you:
• Muscle weakness, paralysis of a limb (inability to raise the arm) or of the face (inability to smile with a drooping lip on one side), most often on one side of the body only,
• A loss of sensitivity or numbness of one or more limbs or of the face, also on one side of the body,
• Loss of vision in one eye or half of the visual field for each eye, or sudden onset of double sight,
• Difficulty speaking, either due to difficulty in articulating or finding words, or due to the use of incomprehensible words or difficulties in understanding what one hears,
• Disorders of balance or coordination of the members of sudden onset, with difficulty in walking, like a drunk man,
• Disorders of vigilance which can go as far as coma,
• A sudden, intense and unusual headache.
The regression of signs after a few minutes should in no way be reassuring: sudden neurological deficits regressing rapidly may be the sign of a “transient ischemic attack” (TIA), a kind of mini-stroke. They must also lead to immediate consultation.
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